It was a cloudy and snowy day when Greg and I drove to
Nashville to
pick up Rusty. The Bronco had been parked for a few months with a
burned out clutch. The owner said the bronco's engine (an in-line 6cyl)
ran good but smoked some. The ground was covered in snow and the Bronco
was at the botton of a hill. Greg's tow rig was a 2 wheel drive
Suburban, nice for Towing down the interstate but not good for towing
up a hill in snow. We went to the local O'Rielly's Auto Parts store to
buy some snow chains to try to pull down and get that baby out. As it
turns out, O'Rielly's did not have any snow chains in stock but an
employee did offer to help us pull the bronco up to the top of the hill
so we could load it all for just the cost of his gas. It took him a
while but he was able to pull it up in the snow and cold.
Unfortunately, Greg's trailer didn't have a winch, so we had to use a
come-a-long to ratchet the Bronco on the trailer. In snow and cold and
wind, it was the most fun I have had in a long time. We got the Bronco
home and decided to name her Rusty. Rusty fired up the next day but the
clutch was definitely gone. I bought a clutch kit and installed it.
Rusty ran good but it did smoke. Especially when she was sitting
idling. I put 35" tires on her (yes, I wanted to give the new clutch a
good test) and took her wheeling. I also had to make a few small
investments to improve her performance on the trail. Not much, just
small things like, New Battery, add an air cleaner assembly, new motor
mounts, replaced a fender, got new belts, new dimmer switch, , 3.5"
lift, track bar bracket, new seats, seat belts, new right headlight,
new brake switch, added a tailgate, added a winch, replaced the front
diff cover, added a muffler, replaced the water pump, replaced the
alternator, got a new windshield, added hydroboost, replaced the
starter, added a roll cage, fixed shock mounts, and added a CB. After a
Labor Day trip to Wooly's off-road park, I realized I had to upgrade my
engine.
I began the engine upgrade on November 6th by pulling my 6
cylinder
from Rusty. A couple of days earlier I had ordered all the radiator
brackets, engine support brackets, ect. This was a project that I
expected to complete in 2 weeks but has taken a couple of months. After
pulling the engine I went the following Saturday to a local Junkyard
and picked up a 302 for $250. The engine came from a 1984 Ford
Econoline van and I was told the engine was good - no smoke or rattles.
I took everything off the engine alternator, PS pump, hoses, AC
compressor, water pump, ect. I plugged the holes and gave it a good
pressure washing. I dropped thye crossmember supporting my transmission
and transfer case. On the 302 from the junkyard, I replaced the fuel
pump, timing chain, water pump, new valve cover gaskets, new rear main
seal, and new oil pump. I thouoght it's eaisier to replace all these
when the engine is on a stand rather than in the truck. The first delay
came with hooking up the Dana 20 transfer case to the C4 transmission.
The C4 had an adapter to the Dana 20 but no spud shaft. I was not sure
if I could have used the spud shaft from my 3 speed so I elected to go
with a new one from JBG. The spud shaft had to be machined so it took
about 2 weeks from the time I placed the order till the time I received
it. While I was waiting on the spud shaft to arrive, I sent off my
power steerign box for a rebuild. I also pulled Rusty on a trailer and
hauled her to a friends house for some body work and a cheap paint job
(cheap considering it's my trail rig). I took about 2 weeks for the
paint job.
